19 February 2009

In keeping with my barbecue loving ways and my longing for sunny climates I decided to bring those Greek flavours into my home as I do at least once a week.

Gyro is probably the most often mispronounced food name. Even its biggest fans sometimes don't get the pronunciation exact. Is it a "jee-rohs," "jai-rohs," "gee-rohs?" The correct Greek pronunciation is “yee-rohs, ” at least in my best explanation. Or is it a Donair?

Almost every culture has its own version of 'fast food', and in Greece I am giving that honour to the gyro sandwich. Have I eaten enough gyros or donairs in my life to become an expert...well not really, but here is what I do know.

Here in Canada a gyro is quite often made with meat cut off of a big cylinder of well-seasoned lamb or beef. This meat is cooked on a slowly rotating vertical spit or gyro, implying the circular spinning motion of a gyroscope. A gyro sandwich consists of various rotisseried meats, all or none of tomatoes, lettuce and onions, along with a yogurt-based tzatziki sauce. These ingredients are placed on a grilled pita bread and served as a wrap sandwich. The type of pita bread may also vary, from the pocket style to a round flatbread. I am salivating already!!!!

A Turkish Doner Kebab or Gyro is slices of marinated lamb, mutton, beef, veal, or chicken which are stacked on a vertical spit and roasted at a vertical grill. It is served as a type of sandwich stuffed into Turkish bread, rolled into flat bread, or laid on top of diced flat bread with a sauce. This type of sandwich has been known, and sold on the streets, by the people of Greece, the Middle East, and Turkey for hundreds of years. In Greece I found they usually add french fries and sometimes mustard inside their gyro as well for a "full meal deal". If you're lucky you can get this type of donair here in Canada too!!! Greek historians believe that the dish originated during Alexander The Great’s time, when his soldiers used their long knives to skewer meat and kept turning the meat over fires.

My version is made with marinated chicken breasts, so we do get all the flavours reminiscent of a true gyro without having to try and replicate the meat. This is something I make often all year round... and talk about fast!!

Before I move on to the recipe I have a few orders of business. I have been the recipient of a couple of awards this week.

The first is the "You're a Sweet" bestowed upon me by my good friend and blogging sister Ivy of Kopiaste. Thank you so much Sis, I think you're the sweetest too with one of the biggest of hearts out there!!!

Place boneless chicken breasts in a shallow glass container. Season with thyme or oregano, pepper, garlic, oil, lemon (juice and zest), salt and olive oil. Distribute the seasonings evenly over the chicken breast by rubbing well. Allow to marinade in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Clean the grill well with a grill brush. Once the grill is clean rub with an oiled paper towel. Heat the grill on high for 5 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade and place on prepared grill. Discard remaining marinade. Cook chicken until juices run clear, about 8 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from heat, and allow to sit about 10 minutes before slicing into thin strips.

Place pita rounds on the grill, and cook for about 2 minutes, until warm, turning frequently to avoid burning. Stuff pita pockets with chicken, toppings and tzatziki to serve.

Looks very tasty, Val. I agree with you completely about the nastiness of mustard in gyros. You know, I've never seen that giant cylinder of meat in Greece, only in the US and Canada. What I've seen in Greece is only the stacks of meat on a vertical spit. Just like at the Greek butcher shop, the meat is ground in front of you, not pre-ground as in North America.

I love gyros, never made at home from scratch, here we get from the buchers and you just have to fry them, now i know a recipe i can try at home and it will be far more cheaper then buying from the shops.

Thanks for the pronunciation lesson - I always wondered how to pronounce that. I thought it might be heeros and maybe that was where the hero sandwich came from. Yeeros makes more sense. Looks so amazingly flavourful. Delish!

We make gyros the sane way here in Chicago as you guys have them in Canada! It's the only way I've ever known...I also love to substitute actual grilled chicken for the meat; it's a healthier taste b/c it's usually less greasy than a traditional gyros! I basically love anything that comes on a pita and is topped with tzatziki though!

There is a middle eastern takeout place in the neighborhood of my office that has those rotating vertical spits of lamb and chicken. It's the most mouthwatering thing ever! I could go in there every day and order some.

Your gyros look great, even if I do say them wrong and they're not roasted on big vertical spits. I love tzatziki!

I'd never heard of a Doner kebab until I came to the UK - but in Johannesburg you got killer schawarmas which are basically the middle-Eastern version. Makes me homesick just to think about that well-spiced meat, the creamy garlicky sauce and the crunchy salad... Yum!

I would gladly eat your gyros and chicken gyros is usual in Greece and I always prefer it. You will never find lamb gyros and rarely beef gyros may be found. Gyros is mainly made with pork, served with tzatziki, onions, tomato slices. Potatoes are optional and instead of tzatziki mustard yoghurt sauce is also very popular.

Hi Valli! I am looking forward to catching up on the posts I've missed over the past week or so...I got SO behind. But it gives me several posts to look forward to now, and yummy recipes! I've never tried to make gyros, but I love them, and I love the sound of the chicken ones...and that SAUCE! That has to be the KEY factor! Thanks so much for these recipes...I'll let you know when I make them, because reading your post has made me start craving them. :-)

I make special trips to Greektown to my favourite place for a gyro. Had I known you had this talent to reproduce it allmost identically, I would have put in my order a while ago.Congrats on the awards. You're a cool dude(tte)

I always cringe a little when I hear someone call them "jai-rohs". They're a favorite of mine. Your chicken version certainly would be easier for me to reproduce as I don't have a one of those huge spits at home. ;) It looks really delicious, Val!

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My blog More Than Burnt Toast has been my passion for almost 9 years and has evolved with me over time as I have gained confidence in the kitchen. Follow my travels through Italy and Greece one recipe at a time, upcoming cooking classes at local Okanagan wineries and restaurants, as well as daily experimentation in my own kitchen. Every day we should be excited about what we are eating even if it just means making use of a wonderful find at our local farmers market. I look forward to getting to know you.